Moar about the dead and undead
Dec. 4th, 2021 10:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
captainsblogNo more clients died since I was last here. That I know of, anyway. Takes some time, sometimes; as Johnny Carson once observed, after you die, your fingernails continue to grow but your phone calls taper off.
Midweek, the calendar turned to December, and I greeted it with my usual incantation:
Labrat labrat labrat!
December also brought a coda of sorts to the memories I shared of last time of John Lennon's passing, which we will remember next week:
I’ve heard the story many times about Howard Cosell announcing the legendary Beatle's death on Monday Night Football. I’ve also heard the story many times about U2 making its first Buffalo appearance at a small club in Clarence, opening for legendary local bar band Talas. (This was their first US tour, the same one where a future Rochester client of mine threw them out of his bar before their set.) I did NOT realize, until just now, that these events were on the same night.
There's been a lot of talk around here about the MNF connection to Lennon's murder. The Bills were not in that game, but we’re hosting a Monday night game next week against New England, which was one of the participants. A guy called into a local sports talk show the other day to mention the MNF role in reporting the news. They also talked about the U2 tie-in, and how that band always plays some Beatles music at their stadium shows here to honor that connection. He learned of the murder on the radio while sitting in his car outside the Clarence club where U2 was playing that night, being too young to be admitted.
But the caller also mentioned that, a few years ago, he wrote and directed a film about the incident, from the POV of the killer (still in residence in adjacent Orleans County at last report) and tied to his defense, at his murder trial, that he was somehow inspired by Catcher in the Rye. The filmmakers never got clearances on any of the Beatle music or broadcasts in the film, so it remains something of a hidden gem, but it occasionally gets screened as parts of historical film presentations locally, including this one from 2018:
Yet another bar-owning friend of mine is running a Christmas music film series this month, and I'm trying to arrange a screening of it there.
----
The workweek was relatively quiet in terms of appointments, but got plenty busy the past couple. A long-pending case looks ready to fire into the world, a new collection came in against a joint down the road from where Eleanor lived when I met her, and then yesterday came another wacky referral. I haven't decided to take it, and I can't share details, but it's got everything: arson, family feuds, shotguns, frauds upon a court, and a treasure trove of memes.
I came home last night to find five new DVDs, four from the library, and Eleanor in a bit of a state. We spent most of Thursday on a whirlwind of errands, including her getting her post-cataract eye checkup (she's actually better than last time, and I go in for my first pre-cataract exam next week), picking up my newly-tired and inspected car, and having a repair guy fix the recurring leakage problem in our fridge. More importantly, he showed Eleanor how to do it; apparently it's a problem with a plugged up pipe, caused, surprise surprise, by accumulated pet hair. She now knows where it is and how to remove, clean and replace it. But last night was about what she couldn't do: she installed our outdoor landscape lights close to 20 years ago while she was working professionally to do it at other homes. A few fixtures needed updating, and it wasn't that she didn't know how or couldn't handle the work. The replacement parts simply were not available. As in, likely, ever; so, not supply chain but forced redundancy. She got pretty down about it, but is taking a break to figure out options for regrouping.
After that, we needed something, um, light- so we went with this:
It stars Aubrey Plaza from the Parks and Rec series and a range of other comic actors from sitcoms to standup. It goes relatively easy on the "undead" tropes but when it uses them, it does so well; you will never look at your kitchen stove quite the same way again.
And with that, off for All The Saturday Things....
Midweek, the calendar turned to December, and I greeted it with my usual incantation:
Labrat labrat labrat!
December also brought a coda of sorts to the memories I shared of last time of John Lennon's passing, which we will remember next week:
I’ve heard the story many times about Howard Cosell announcing the legendary Beatle's death on Monday Night Football. I’ve also heard the story many times about U2 making its first Buffalo appearance at a small club in Clarence, opening for legendary local bar band Talas. (This was their first US tour, the same one where a future Rochester client of mine threw them out of his bar before their set.) I did NOT realize, until just now, that these events were on the same night.
There's been a lot of talk around here about the MNF connection to Lennon's murder. The Bills were not in that game, but we’re hosting a Monday night game next week against New England, which was one of the participants. A guy called into a local sports talk show the other day to mention the MNF role in reporting the news. They also talked about the U2 tie-in, and how that band always plays some Beatles music at their stadium shows here to honor that connection. He learned of the murder on the radio while sitting in his car outside the Clarence club where U2 was playing that night, being too young to be admitted.
But the caller also mentioned that, a few years ago, he wrote and directed a film about the incident, from the POV of the killer (still in residence in adjacent Orleans County at last report) and tied to his defense, at his murder trial, that he was somehow inspired by Catcher in the Rye. The filmmakers never got clearances on any of the Beatle music or broadcasts in the film, so it remains something of a hidden gem, but it occasionally gets screened as parts of historical film presentations locally, including this one from 2018:
Yet another bar-owning friend of mine is running a Christmas music film series this month, and I'm trying to arrange a screening of it there.
----
The workweek was relatively quiet in terms of appointments, but got plenty busy the past couple. A long-pending case looks ready to fire into the world, a new collection came in against a joint down the road from where Eleanor lived when I met her, and then yesterday came another wacky referral. I haven't decided to take it, and I can't share details, but it's got everything: arson, family feuds, shotguns, frauds upon a court, and a treasure trove of memes.
I came home last night to find five new DVDs, four from the library, and Eleanor in a bit of a state. We spent most of Thursday on a whirlwind of errands, including her getting her post-cataract eye checkup (she's actually better than last time, and I go in for my first pre-cataract exam next week), picking up my newly-tired and inspected car, and having a repair guy fix the recurring leakage problem in our fridge. More importantly, he showed Eleanor how to do it; apparently it's a problem with a plugged up pipe, caused, surprise surprise, by accumulated pet hair. She now knows where it is and how to remove, clean and replace it. But last night was about what she couldn't do: she installed our outdoor landscape lights close to 20 years ago while she was working professionally to do it at other homes. A few fixtures needed updating, and it wasn't that she didn't know how or couldn't handle the work. The replacement parts simply were not available. As in, likely, ever; so, not supply chain but forced redundancy. She got pretty down about it, but is taking a break to figure out options for regrouping.
After that, we needed something, um, light- so we went with this:
It stars Aubrey Plaza from the Parks and Rec series and a range of other comic actors from sitcoms to standup. It goes relatively easy on the "undead" tropes but when it uses them, it does so well; you will never look at your kitchen stove quite the same way again.
And with that, off for All The Saturday Things....
Oh boy
Date: 2021-12-04 03:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-12-05 01:11 pm (UTC)Some years back, Evil Secretary was on the phone, then hung up with a funny expression on her face. "What's up?" I innocently asked. "I don't call dead people! It's not in my job description."
Seems the patient in question had passed away since the last visit/had made the appointment. It happens, but really upsets her when it does. (I've been the one to have made that call occasionally. Not happy when it happens, but not totally upset like she is.)
no subject
Date: 2021-12-05 02:14 pm (UTC)Wegmans prides itself on the quality and dedication of “our people.” As well they should, seeing how I’m married to one of them;) I was an unusual for me branch, looking for a particular baked good of the Wegmans brand, and the only person working in the area was stocking a shelf of a local outside vendor’s brand rolls. As soon as I saw she had a Costanzo hoodie on, I told her not to worry about helping me with the Wegmans product I was looking for. But not only did she tell me that they had it, she stopped what she was doing and walked over a good half aisle to show me where they were.
I thanked her, and repeat her kindness here, but it’s by no means unusual. Other outside vendors have been just as kind and helpful, avoiding the same “not my job” attitude that is prevalent in so much retail. I know, for instance, that guys who were coming in with beer from Certo Brothers were often just as good. I also know firsthand that Eleanor is just as helpful even when out of uniform and off the clock, and I’ve even done it for random shoppers.
Now to get that true spirit of kindness into ALL their customers;)
no subject
Date: 2021-12-05 04:18 pm (UTC)That might be, as you say, the area you live in. Some years ago, I was down in US (I think National Guard drill in Vermont), and was struck by the difference in store clerk helpfulness in supermarkets/department stores between Montreal and small town Vermont. In Montreal, sometimes felt like I’d have to tackle someone just to get them to take my money, much less tell me where to find something. In Vermont, the clerk started to tell me where to find it, then cut himself off and said, “I’ll go get it for you” and did so.
no subject
Date: 2021-12-05 05:13 pm (UTC)Back in law school days, I did an internship in London and that's where I discovered the joys of Indian cuisine. Indian customer service, not so much. Our favourite was a place near our dorm in Maida Vale; I forget its name because we just called it "Slow Service No Service." The food was good enough to wait forever for it to arrive, but they were just as snail-like when it came to presenting the bill. About the only way to get them to do it was to get up and threaten to leave without paying.